Ship sinks off Dutch coast with 1,200 Mitsubishi vehicles on board

Dutch police said on Thursday they were talking to the prosecutor's office about whether they could investigate the sinking of the Baltic Ace cargo ship, which collided with another vessel in unclear circumstances.

"This incident took place out of our territorial waters," said Jos Klaren, a spokesman for the Dutch police.

"We are discussing with the prosecutor's office whether it is part of our jurisdiction." The Baltic Ace sank on Wednesday evening after it collided with a container ship in the North Sea, killing at least four crew members.Human error was probably to blame for the collision that sank the Baltic Ace ship, its Greek manager said on Thursday.

The ship was carrying more than 1,400 new cars, most of them Mitsubishis from Japan and Thailand, Panagiootis Kakoliris, operations manager at Stamco Ship Management Co. Ltd., told Reuters.